Influx of COVID, flu and RSV puts strain on the health system | ABC News
Summary
TLDRAustralia's health systems are under immense pressure due to a surge in winter illnesses, with a combination of flu, COVID-19, and RSV overwhelming emergency rooms. Despite a slightly lower flu level than last year, the situation is exacerbated by the addition of COVID-19 and low immunization rates across the population. The healthcare workforce crisis, particularly in general practice, is further straining the system, with insufficient doctors to manage the influx of patients and triage those who could be treated outside of emergency departments. The need for improved immunization and a restructured approach to general practice is highlighted as a potential solution.
Takeaways
- 🚨 Winter illnesses are overwhelming health systems due to a surge in flu, COVID-19, and RSV cases.
- 📈 There's an increase in flu cases, particularly in New South Wales, and a rapid rise in COVID-19 cases in Victoria.
- 🦠 The emergence of COVID-19 as an additional virus has compounded the pre-existing burden of flu and RSV.
- 🏥 Emergency rooms are overflowing, and many hospitals are operating under emergency conditions.
- 💉 Immunization rates for COVID-19 and influenza are worryingly low, especially among vulnerable groups.
- 👩⚕️ General practice is facing a workforce crisis, with practitioners being overburdened and unable to effectively triage patients.
- 🌐 COVID-19 is not seasonal and is rising globally, affecting winter waves predictably but also year-round.
- 💉 The potential to mitigate disease burden exists through improved vaccination efforts.
- 🏫 Increasing medical school places alone won't solve the workforce crisis without changing the incentive schemes and practice structures.
- 🤔 There's a need to reconsider the attractiveness of general practice as a career and to address the distribution of medical specialties.
- 📊 There's a significant gap in the immunization rates for influenza and COVID-19 boosters, especially among the elderly and children.
Q & A
What is causing the surge in winter illnesses that is straining health systems across the country?
-A combination of flu, COVID-19, and another respiratory virus known as RSV is causing the surge in winter illnesses, leading to overflowing emergency rooms and states of emergency in many hospitals.
How does the presence of COVID-19 impact the situation compared to pre-pandemic times?
-COVID-19 adds a significant burden to the health systems as it wasn't a factor pre-pandemic, exacerbating the existing issues with flu and RSV.
What is the current status of flu levels compared to last year?
-Flu levels are probably slightly lower than last year, but they have increased by about 20 percent in a week in New South Wales.
What does the Wastewater testing indicate about the spread of COVID-19 in Victoria?
-Wastewater testing in Victoria is showing a rapid rise in COVID-19, including the new variant, indicating an increase in community transmission.
How does the presence of three viruses (flu, RSV, and COVID-19) affect the health system's capacity?
-Having three viruses instead of the usual two (flu and RSV) puts extra strain on the health system, increasing the demand on emergency services and hospital resources.
What is the workforce crisis mentioned in the script, and how does it affect the health system?
-The workforce crisis refers to a shortage of general practitioners (GPs), which affects the ability of the health system to manage non-emergency cases effectively, potentially leading to overburdened emergency departments.
What is the impact of low immunization rates on the current health crisis?
-Low immunization rates for COVID-19 and influenza contribute to the severity of the health crisis by increasing the number of cases and the strain on health systems.
How does the script suggest improving the situation with general practice?
-The script suggests changing the incentive scheme to pay GPs more, improving the structure of general practice to make it more attractive, and addressing the negative perceptions of the profession.
What is the script's view on increasing medical school places without changing the settings?
-The script suggests that simply increasing medical school places without changing the settings may not necessarily produce the desired outcome, as it might result in more specialists in fields that are not in high demand.
What are the current immunization rates for vulnerable groups mentioned in the script?
-The script mentions that the overall immunization rate for influenza is about 50 percent, with particularly low rates for children under five (10%), pregnant women (unknown rate), and older Australians.
How does the script address the issue of doctors being in the wrong specialties or parts of Australia?
-The script suggests that the issue is not the number of doctors per capita but rather their distribution across specialties and geographical locations, indicating a need for a more strategic allocation of medical professionals.
Outlines
🤒 Winter Illnesses Overburden Health Systems
The video script discusses the strain on health systems due to a surge in winter illnesses, including flu, COVID-19, and RSV. Emergency rooms are overwhelmed, and hospitals are in a state of emergency. The script highlights the increased burden due to the presence of COVID-19, which was not a factor pre-pandemic. It mentions that while flu levels are slightly lower than the previous year, there has been a rapid rise in cases, especially in New South Wales, and a significant increase in the new variant of COVID-19 in wastewater testing, particularly in Victoria. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that there are now three respiratory viruses in circulation, putting additional stress on the healthcare system.
🚨 Healthcare Workforce Crisis and Immunization Rates
The script addresses the healthcare workforce crisis, particularly in general practice, which is struggling to manage the influx of patients and could potentially alleviate the pressure on emergency departments. It points out that general practice is overburdened and 'leaky' in its ability to triage patients effectively. The discussion also covers the broader issue of low immunization rates, which could mitigate the burden of diseases if improved. Concerns are raised about the high proportion of Australians who have not received their most recent COVID-19 vaccine, including a significant gap in booster uptake among the elderly and vulnerable groups such as children under five and pregnant women. The script suggests that improving immunization rates could help manage the current health crisis.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Winter illnesses
💡Health Systems
💡Flu
💡COVID-19
💡RSV
💡Emergency rooms
💡Workforce crisis
💡General practice
💡Immunization rates
💡Booster
💡Incentive scheme
Highlights
A surge in winter illnesses is putting a strain on health systems nationwide.
State and territory ministers are demanding more funding from the Commonwealth.
A combination of flu, COVID-19, and RSV is causing emergency rooms to overflow.
Dr. Norman Swan discusses the severity of the influx of illnesses.
COVID-19 adds a significant burden to the existing flu and RSV situation.
Flu levels are slightly lower than last year but have increased rapidly in recent weeks.
Wastewater testing in Victoria shows a rapid rise in COVID-19 cases.
The new variant of COVID-19 is increasing in the community.
Three respiratory viruses are now circulating, adding strain to the health system.
Health ministers are aware of the situation but funding may not be the solution.
There is a workforce crisis in general practice, affecting the ability to manage patient flow.
General practice is overburdened and struggles to triage patients effectively.
COVID-19 is not seasonal and continues to rise globally.
Low immunization rates are a concern, especially for COVID-19 and influenza.
A significant gap in booster vaccinations exists among the elderly and vulnerable groups.
Improving immunization rates could mitigate the burden of these diseases.
Increasing medical school places may not address the shortage of general practitioners.
Changing incentive schemes and improving the structure of general practice could attract more doctors.
Australia has enough doctors per capita, but they are in the wrong specialties or locations.
There is a need for more patient-focused education for medical students.
Transcripts
a surge in Winter illnesses is straining
Health Systems across the country as
state and territory ministers demand
greater funding support from the
Commonwealth a combination of flu covid
and another respiratory virus known as
RSV has left emergency rooms overflowing
and force many hospitals into state of
emergency co-host of the Health Report
and what's that rash Dr Norman Swan
takes us through the severity of this
latest influx of illnesses it's always
cute at this time of year here and the
added variable is that now you've got an
extra virus in the mix which is covid-19
which wasn't there PR pre pandemic
sounds like the obvious thing to say but
it adds a significant burden to what was
there already flu is probably a slightly
lower level than last year but it's gone
up maybe 20 odd per in a in a week at
least in New South Wales um and Co is
going up as well more slowly but it's
the Wastewater testing particularly in
Victoria is showing a really rapid rise
uh um and that the new variant of Co is
showing an increase in Wastewater and to
to a lesser extent on testing so you
know that is to come on top of flu so
four or five years ago you only had flu
and RSV this respiratory sensity of
virus and now you've got three of them
out there and that does put extra strain
the one thing one cabat you can put on
the headlines is is
predictable they knew it was
coming and money while the health
ministers are asking for money it's hard
to see how money is going to solve their
problem when you've got people turning
up in Ed the pro part of the problem
here is we've got a Workforce crisis in
general practice people AR going into
general practice and general practice
can hold the line in with situations
like this and see people who might not
need to be in the emergency department
and triage them in a sense but general
practice is overburdened and it's in a
sense leaky in terms of its ability to
hold to hold the line which is not the
fault of individual GPS who working hard
it's the system so is it the impact just
of seasonal illness as well as those
workplace shortages that you spoke of or
is a bigger problem at play well it is a
bigger problem first of all Co is not
seasonal Co is rising around the world
so so Co is not yet a winter illness
it's just keeps on coming and going in a
wave but it does you the wave
predictably does come in in Winter uh
predictably but not only in Winter
immunization rates are low um the number
of the proportion of people who have not
had not had their most recent covid
vaccine is worryingly high and there are
still a lot of Australians who haven't
had their third booster um and the if
you look at people in residential Age
Care people over 75 there's probably a
30% Gap in people who are yet to get it
and if you look at influenza which is
also a Ser potentially a serious ill
our overall immunization rate is about
50 odd per. and in the vulnerable groups
so particularly vulnerable group as
children aged not to um five their
immunization rate is 10% and they're a
vulnerable group pregnant women we don't
know what the rate is and older
Australians are still pretty low so we
could actually mitigate the burden of
these diseases by improving immunization
you mentioned the shortage of GPS as
well toward lifting the restrictions on
medical School places make a difference
not necessarily because you just might
get more of the same if you don't change
the settings just increasing the funnel
at one side will possibly just produce
more plastic surgeons and general
surgeons and um dermatologists and so on
and not necessarily put people into the
occupations that you want them to go in
uh the way to do that is to change the
incentive scheme pay GPS more um and um
stop talking about general practice so
negatively because it is a rewarding a a
rewarding career but we've got to change
the structure of general practice to
make it more attractive just we've
already got quite a lot of doctors per
capita in the population compared to
other countries they're just in the
wrong Specialties in the wrong parts of
Australia so just making them you know
we haven't got enough patience at the
moment to teach students on so I'm not
quite sure what you're going to do with
more for
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